


Happiness costs an arm (and a leg)

by TasteofDeath



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Caregiver!Merle, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Age Play, Other, Regressing!Magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:13:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23831404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TasteofDeath/pseuds/TasteofDeath
Summary: Merle is woken up in the dead hours of the morning by a regressed and distressed Magnus.Merle and Taako find themselves giving the comfort that Magnus needs.
Relationships: Magnus Burnsides & Merle Highchurch, Magnus Burnsides & Merle Highchurch & Taako, Magnus Burnsides & Taako, Merle Highchurch & Taako
Comments: 20
Kudos: 41





	Happiness costs an arm (and a leg)

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first published work here, so please be nice!
> 
> Please let me know of any spelling errors and grammatical errors.
> 
> Leave a comment if you wish!

It all started with three short, sharp knocks on Merle’s door.

Merle struggles to untangle himself from his prison of bedsheets, grumbling all the way. 

“Who in Pan’s name knocks on my door at-“ his grumbling was cut short as he tripped over a potted plant, scattering soil everywhere, which only worsened his mood.

“At fuckin’- four in the morning?”

Merle flicked the lock of his door as he hurriedly buttoned up an old (and most likely dirty) fantasy Hawaiian Tee, slipped on his glasses, and opened the door with one last grumble.

Before him, Merle saw basketball shorts that had probably been put on backwards and inside out. Glancing upward, Merle saw a slightly chubby face and a whole lot of sideburns. Magnus.

“What do ya want kid, it’s four in the Pan-damned morning.” Merle sent a tired and grumpy gaze up to Magnus and rubbed his eye from behind his glasses. 

“M’ sorry, I can just go, I’m gonna go back to bed, bye, I’m sorry for waking-“ 

“Oi, hush up kid, I'm already awake, what’s all the matter?” Merle cut Magnus off, patting him on the thigh and sending a half-smile in his direction. 

Magnus was hesitant in saying anything, biting his lip and shifting in his feet. 

“I-“ He paused to take a breath, “I think ‘m having an uhm, a ‘Little’ problem.” 

It took Merle a few moments to understand what Magnus had meant, but when he did he just gave Magnus a pat on the knee and a gesture to follow him. “Feeling a bit small, are we?” He asked, not really in the search of an answer that he already had. 

Magnus just nodded, hesitantly following Merle into his filth pile of a bedroom. 

“Look out for that soil there, bud, don’t want you getting your feet dirty, huh?” Merle chuckled leading Maggie around the spilt dirt and up to his bed. 

“Do you have any of your Small things?” Merle asked softly, helping Maggie up onto the bed (even though they both knew he didn’t really need it) and draping his softest quilt over the boy’s shoulders.

Maggie only shook his head, Fiddling with his thumbs and avoiding eye contact with the dwarf. 

“Well do you know where they are, kid?” 

This time Maggie nodded, staring at the pattern of Merle’s quilt while answering, “Uh huh. My books are on the couch and my other stuff is in my Small box in my room.” 

Merle nodded, humming affirmations. “Do you want me to go get them?” He asked, sitting himself next to Maggie and patting his blanketed thigh gently. 

Maggie whined without hesitation, shaking his head wildly. “Well bud, why not? Surely you don’t wanna be wearing these Magnus clothes when you could be cuddled up in a nice Maggie shirt?” Merle spoke quietly and calmly, trying his best to persuade the small boy into giving in.

“Don’t wanna be alone.” 

Maggie was always quiet when he first slipped, feeling awkward about suddenly being in a younger headspace, and then insecure about the whole deal too.

“Well, kid, do you wanna come with instead?” Merle already had his answer, but still waited until Maggie nodded his head vigorously and linked his hand with Merle’s. 

The two walked out of Merle’s quarters as quiet as possible (which wasn’t very quiet at all), heading first to the living room. 

They spent little time in there, Merle quickly grabbing Maggie’s leather book satchel and slinging it over his shoulder before leading Maggie over to his own dorm. 

Merle unhooked his hand from Maggie’s and left him in the doorway of his room. It would be far quicker for Merle to grab the box by himself, no need for the lamps to be turned on, and no need for Maggie to trip over something in the dark. 

Merle had to stick his whole torso under the bed the even see the box and had to push a wide variety of mouldy things aside to be able to pull it out. It had been quite a long while since they last used it. Merle would usually make a remark about the sea of filth in Maggie’s room, but on account of how young Maggie was feeling at the moment, he bit back the rude comments he would usually make.

Instead of choosing anything for Maggie, he picked up the whole box, carrying it under one arm while holding Maggie’s hand with the other. 

They made it back to Merle’s room rather quickly, shutting the door quietly and lighting the oil lamps strung around the room.

Maggie settled himself on the bed, his confidence beginning to kick up after having been Small for a while. His legs dangle off the edge of the bed, not far enough to get caught by monsters, but enough the almost like Merle in the face.

Merle grumbled as he narrowly missed a foot to the face, patting Maggie’s shin gently as he snapped open the box.

Maggie’s Small box was, you guessed it, a box where he kept his Little things. It helped him transition quicker from Big to Little and also prevented him from losing any important things that he needed during his Small time.

The lid of the box was covered in a thick layer of dust, since it had been such a long time since Maggie had needed it, and Merle hacked like a gross old man when he pulled the lid away. 

He let Maggie have a choice between three shirts, setting the chosen one on the bed next to him as well as a chew toy necklace, a fidget cube, and a large stuffed bunny.

The box was closed for the meantime and pushed just under Merle’s bed for later. 

Maggie insisted that he was a big boy tonight (though it was painfully obvious how young he was), and refused to let Merle help dress him. Instead, Merle had to face the other direction with his hands over his eyes as Maggie struggled to unbutton his Tee and as he got stuck in the large shirt. After some time, he called out to Merle.

“‘M ready, you can turn around now!” If Magnus was loud normally, then Gods, Maggie was like a Magnus brand megaphone. Maggie had zero control over his volume, it seemed.

Merle was quick to silence the kid, even the mere thought of Taako bitching about his ruined beauty sleep had Merle exasperated. “Jesus Fantasy Christ, kid, art you trying to wake up the entire moon? Tone it down a notch, alright?”

Maggie seemed to hunch over, in hopes of being smaller. “‘M sorry, Emmy,” Maggie mumbled, almost speaking into his chest with how far his head was leaning downward.

Merle sighed and took a deep breath.

‘You can’t talk to Maggie how you would talk to Magnus.’ He thought.

“Er, c’mon, buddy, you know I didn’t mean that, cheer up?” It came out more like a question, and Merle’s fairly uncertain time did not help much at all. He was hit good at all at cheering children up. “I’m sorry for being rude, Maggie, I know you didn’t mean to be so loud. You just gotta be more careful with using your indoor and outdoor voices appropriately.” 

Maggie nodded, fighting to keep a grin off of his face. “You’re real bad at saying sorry, M.” He giggled. 

“Hush up, little one. Now get under those covers if you want a story.” Merle chided the boy, almost bouncing off the bed as Maggie hurriedly crawled to the other side of the bed and burrowed himself under the soft fabrics.

Merle had to laugh at the kid’s enthusiasm, tossing him his Plushie bunny (dubbed Peter of Burrowton the eighth (big Magnus had named him)) and set his fidget cube on the table next to the bed.

Merle pulled them leather strap over his head and off of him before rifling through the bag. “What book do you want, kiddo?”

“I want the one about the dog, please?” Maggie dragged out the last syllable, earning a hacking laugh out of the old dwarf.

Merle dug the book out of the leather satchel, which was rather full of books, before ‘gently’ tossing it to the end of the bed. Maggie had already shifted and turned so he would be as comfy as possible during the story, now laying with his forehead against Merle’s thigh and blankets pulled up to his neck.

Merle wasn’t even halfway through the story when he heard a sniffle. Knowing Maggie wasn’t sick, he had to make sure that his boy was doing okay. “Are you cryin’ about the puppies again, Maggie?” He asked with a chuckle, only receiving a shaken head and a small whine.

There were tears in the boy’s eyes, not yet fallen. Maggie’s lip quivered, and he hid his face in the fabric of Merle’s jorts.

Merle began stroking Maggie’s hair, sitting and listening to his sharp breaths against his thigh. “Wanna tell me why you’re upset?” Merle asked the now sobbing boy, who only shook his head once more.

“Okay, how about we move around so you can be more comfy? You can lay on me for a little if you’d like?” Merle suggested with a smile.

Maggie shrugged, “I’d break all your bones, ‘m too big and heavy.” Maggie was only half goofing, laughing under his breath as he spoke. 

Merle shrugged, waving Maggie off. “Aw Nah, that’s why I’m a healer! So little boys like yourself don’t gotta worry about breaking my bones.” That earned quite a giggle out of Maggie, despite the still falling tears.

Merle was being rather nice about letting Maggie move, because Maggie was a little bit worse at being gentle with people than Magnus was. After much bouncing and turning and shifting, Maggie ended up with his head and shoulders resting on Merle’s stomach and the rest of his body between Merle’s legs. The dwarf’s legs were spread out to avoid being crushed my Maggie’s body. 

“See? Look how easy that was. No broken bones, and it’s a little more comfy right? You like cuddles don’t you?” Merle’s gruff voice had a surprising amount of affection, and as his hand smoothed Maggie’s curls the boy began to cry freely again. “You aren’t too heavy at all, buddy. Is that what you’re upset about?” Merle was met with a softly shaken head and a hum of disapproval.

Well, shit. That was the only clue he had. “Did you have a bad dream before?” A shake.

“Did you do something bad?” A nod.

“Did you break something?” A shrug.

“Oh, kiddo, you can just tell me. I’m not gonna be mad if you broke something, even if it’s important.” 

Maggie covered his face in his hands, not even bothering to be quiet now, just sobbing into the open air. 

“Taako won’t be mad either. Well, he probably will be, but he won’t really mind.” Merle kept a steady rhythm as he combed through Maggie’s curly hair as the boy kept on sobbing.

There wasn’t much speaking for a while, other than Merle’s quiet comforts and Maggie’s little sobs. 

After a little while, Merle was beginning to catch words flying out of Maggie’s mouth at a rapid speed. 

“Woah, Woah, Woah, Bub, slow down if you want me to understand.” Merle gave a gruff chuckle, smoothing his hands over Maggie’s wet cheeks. 

All of Maggie’s words were broken up by hiccups and short breaths. “I’m- I’m sorry- that I- I hurt you.” 

Well, that left Merle lost for words. “I’m sorry, what?” 

“‘M sorry. For when I hurt you.” Maggie’s voice was getting quieter and quieter with each word until he was reduced to childish mumbles. 

“Kiddo, Maggie, Bub, when did you hurt me? Is this because of my arm? Because you know full well that I fuckin’ love my tree arm. It’s okay, hun.” Merle tried to keep the conversation light and jokey, but that was proving hard with a watery-eyed little boy on top of him. 

“No!” Maggie almost yelled, which definitely woke Taako. Merle grimaced at the thought of a grouchy Taako grumbling for the rest of the week about a proper night sleep. “You don’t got a’ arm anymore! I chopped it off! ” Maggie cried out, breathing easier with a weight off of his shoulders.

“What?” Merle exclaimed, looking over Maggie with a look of utter disbelief. “Maggie, kid, you saved my life doin’ that. I forgave you!” He chuckled under his breath and let a grin slip onto his face.

“I know! But I feel really- really bad about hurting you!” Maggie did not find the situation one bit funny. Tears still streaming down his face, sobbing uncontrollably and crying out at a very inappropriate volume. You could hardly blame him though, he seemed genuinely upset. 

“Kiddo, sometimes the ends outweigh the means. We didn’t even have to go to the med bay for long, and I’ve also got a direct line to Pan through this.” Merle wiggles his wooden fingers to make a point.

“I know, but-“ Maggie’s childish yet emotional refutes were interrupted by a sharp tapping on the door and a swift swish of opening doors.

In strode Taako, dressed in baggy sweatpants and oversized top, and his new undercut. He kicked the door shut with a nonchalant flick of his ears. Both sets of eyes were on him, but of course, Taako was used to having the spotlight.

He let out a loud and definitely overdone yawn, stretching his arms over his shoulders and arching his back just to show off. “So, my dudes. What’s the sitch?” His voice lacked any and all grouch or anger, which had Merle rather stumped.

After a moment of rather uncomfortable silence, Merle gathered together his thoughts and blurted out his answer. “We appear to be having a, uh, ‘Little’ problem,” Merle spoke gruffly, giving Maggie a little pat on his crimson curls. 

It took a little while for Taako to get the gist of what Merle was implying, but when he caught on, he acted quickly. “Oh dang. How’s our boy doing? Didn’t sound too happy from down the hall.” Taako goofed, earning a small whine and a mumbled apology from the human. 

He walked over to the bed quickly, dodging the spilt soil with a huff and crouching down to be more level with Maggie, who had rolled over and was now hiding his face in Merle’s bad ugly Hawaiian shirt. He carded his fingers through the kid’s hair.

“What’s the matter with my boy?” He asked softly, addressing Maggie but more or less asking Merle for the answer. 

“Little guy’s feelin’ a bit down. I think he could use some cheering up.” Merle sounded a little too gruff to make Maggie a less sad boy, so naturally, Taako would have to step in.

“Well, well, well, looks like I got myself a little tyke to cheer up! C’mon now, scoot over, let me get all comfy so we can have a cuddle, Maggie.” Maggie practically jumped at the proposition and pulled Merle to the other side of the bed to make room for Taako, all with a huge, wet grin on his face. 

Taako settled onto the bed as gracefully as one can, letting out an almighty grunt when Maggie literally flung himself on top of Taako.

“Careful, mags, chaboy’s a delicate specimen.” Taako groaned dramatically, pretending that a smile wasn’t splitting his face. 

Maggie ignored Taako with a giggle, hugging Taako tighter and pushing his face into Taako’s belly.

The elf rolled his eyes at Maggie’s cuddly hug and patted his hair gently, raking his fingers through the auburn curls.

After a very short moment, Maggie’s eyes began to droop and his breathing began to even out. He fell asleep with his cheek smushed into Taako’s pyjama shirt and a little bit of dribble slowly falling past his lips. 

Taako cleared his throat. “So, what’s happened with the kid? I don’t think I’ve ever heard him that upset, even when he’s big.” Taako kept up with his fiddling in Maggie’s hair as he awaited Merle’s response.

Merle scratched his beard, sighing as he thought up his answer. “Kid showed up at my door not long ago and burst into tears halfway through storytime.” Merle picked up the puppy book to show Taako, holding it open at the marked page. “Somethin’ about the ol’ soulwood arm. Kid’s still worried he’s in my bad books or some shit.”

Taako shook his head and clicked his tongue as he wiped over Magnus’ wet face, brushing away the last of the tears and drying his red-rimmed and puffy eyes. “Poor little baby. Silly boy sometimes, isn’t he?” Taako huffs a quiet laugh to himself as Maggie begins to settle into a deeper sleep.

“Oh fuck, we better move him before my legs get crushed.” Taako curses and tries to wiggle under Maggie’s weight with no success. 

Merle ends up having to gently shake Maggie awake (and to give him credit, he was fairly gentle this time), and convince him to roll over onto the space of bed between them, which didn't really take much convincing. 

Maggie whines in the back of his throat for being woken up, but he’s more than happy to get more space on the bed, more blankets, and more cuddles. 

Taako pulls the blankets up over his shoulders and fluffs a pillow up for him so that it’s soft and airy when he lays down. Taako and Merle stay sitting up for now, encasing Magnus in between the height they’ve gained over him. 

Just as Merle reaches over to pull the chain on his lamp, Maggie reaches out to tug on his shirt. “‘Mmy, necklace?” He mumbles, hiding the bottom half of his face beneath the covers pulled up to his nose. 

“What’s that kiddo?” Merle cocks an eye brow and looks over to Maggie, then jerks his head back up to Taako, hoping for an answer. 

Taako sighs, pinching the bridge oh his nose. “He wants the chew necklace. The rubber one. It’s in the box.” Merle thanks Taako with a ‘Ta!’ and leans over the bed precariously to pull the box back out from underneath the bed. He’s able to quickly pry open the lid, grab the necklace, and let the lid drop back onto the box. He doesn’t bother to shove it back under the bed.

The necklace is made of soft woven thread that wouldn’t agitate skin with a clip in the back for easy removal. There’s an assortment of balls, prisms, and irregular shapes made for biting on, even a little dog whose ears and nose have been worn down from constant biting. After a quick inspection for dirt, dust, or anything icky, Merle hands the necklace over to Maggie, or rather, he hooks it around his neck and pops the biggest rubber ball in his mouth. 

Maggie smiles and mumbles a thank you around the rubber, trying to bite down on it with his molars. The last time Maggie needed his necklace was a particularly bad day, with a lot of anxiety and a lot of panic attacks. Merle’s glad that he’s already feeling better. “Yeah, yeah, thank you Merle, your the best, yadda yadda yadda.” Merle teases, poking fun at Maggie’s inability to speak coherently while chewing. With the rubber in his mouth, there's a while lot more dribble on his pillow, but Merle ignores it for now.

Taako reaches over Maggie to shove Merle’s shoulder, earning a very sleeping giggle from Maggie. “Good boy for saying thank you. I think someone deserves a big treat in the morning for being such a good boy.” Taako coos, kissing Maggie’s cheek as he smiles. “Now, close your eyes, bubulah, go to sleep for us.”

Maggie happily obliges, letting his eyes fall shut as the lamp goes out, and smiling to himself as Taako and Merle cuddle up on either side of him, warming him completely.

In the morning everyone wakes up late, Maggie the latest by far. Taako cuts him up some orange slices to keep him busy while he makes breakfast. “Eat up pumpkin,” he says, “You gotta get all that water back into your body after last night. You lost a lot of tears, bub.” Maggie doesn’t exactly want to talk about last night, so Taako makes a point of not talking about it.

Taako keeps to himself, humming at the stove as he readiesplates and made something nice and simple for a little boy.

Maggie was a good boy, sitting on the bench stool and eating his orange slices in silence, and Merle told him so. Maggie smiles into his oranges, and that’s when Merle noticed the icky ness all over Maggie’s face. He treks to the bathroom and retrieves a pack of wet wipes from underneath the sink. In order to reach Maggie’s face properly Merle has to climb up onto the bench.

Merle uses the wet wipes to clean the sleep from Maggie’s eyes and scrub the dry tears and snot off of his face. Maggie whines as Merle’s cleaning gets in the way of his eating. Merle has to use a little bit of force to get everything nice and clean, and once Maggie’s finishes his last orange slice, Merle is wiping his mouth down too. 

Maggie gets his hair ruffled as Merle steps down and jumps onto the floor. “Yer a good boy, Maggie.” He says with a smile, and watches as a Maggie tries to hide his own.

Taako offers to feed him breakfast, and even though Maggie is much smaller than usual today, he refuses. Maggie is surprisingly bad at feeding himself, scooping too much onto the fork and spilling it across the plate again before it can get anywhere near his mouth, so eventually Taako just starts feeding him anyway.

All his bacon is cut up into little pieces as he watches, and Taako shows him how much easier it is to eat that way. Taako is surprisingly nice about it too, scooping up bacon, egg, and even a little bit of buttered toast for Maggie on just one fork load. Breakfast takes longer than usual to finish, but most breakfasts with a little don’t go fast.

Taako takes everyone’s plates and sends Merle to wash up while he cleans Maggie in the bathroom. He has Maggie sit on the toilet seat as he wipes the bacon grease and egg off of his chin. Once his face is clean again, Taako starts getting his tooth brush ready.

Maggie’s toothbrush is green with race cars, and while it seems very childish, Magnus picked it out before he even knew what being little was. It was strange to Taako, because he would’ve thought that Magnus would choose something red, or something with some sort of weapon, but Maggie’s happy as Larry within his current one.

Taako washes the toothbrush under very hot water, using his thumb to remove any left over toothpaste or nastiness. He uses a tube of toothpaste marked ‘Fantasy Costco brand’. The label describes it as being less minty than usual. Taako squeezes a little onto the tooth brush, runs it under gentle water quickly to make it more wet, and then turns to Maggie.

Maggie is very good at this part, he’s learned. He opens his mouth for Taako and tilts his head back to stop anything from pouting out of his mouth. Taako quickly sets a two minute timer before starting, gently scrubbing the brush over Maggie’s teeth. Maggie hardly complains when Taako scrubs his gums. Taako waits for the timer to go off before he lets Maggie spit out the minty froth into the sink, and hands him a plastic cup of water to wash his mouth out with.

Taako and Merle don’t usually brush Maggie’s teeth for him, but when he’s feeling so little they’ll happily indulge him. Maggie gets a kiss on the head after he spits the last of the water into the sink and dries his mouth. “Good boy, Maggie. You ready for a long day of resting?”

Maggie cheers, grinning wide as Taako leads him out the door. 

Eventually all three end up on the couch. Merle is watching ‘Fantasy The Price Is Right’ and Taako and Painting his nails on the far end of the couch. Taako offered to paint his, but Maggie can’t sit still that long if he also has to be awake the whole time.

Instead he lays across the couch with his feet in Taako’s lap (he’s resting his hands on them as they dry) and his head in Merle’s. Merle is gently patting his scalp and occasionally smoothing over his cheek, and it’s making Maggie very sleepy. Maggie has his stuffed bunny cuddled tightly in his arms, the ear in his mouth, as he watches the fantasy TV with foggy eyes. He feels his eyes closing and feels someone pull the bunny ear away from his mouth. 

He can feel Taako rubbing his legs and Merle kissing his hair. “‘Night, honey bug.”

And Maggie falls asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a similar necklace of my own, I use it to calm myself down when I’m having an anxiety attack and it helps a lot :)
> 
> If you want more of this stuff please feel free to request stuff!! I love making content like this but I never have enough ideas.
> 
> I’m sorry that it isn’t that long, I tried to write this as fast as I could so I wouldn’t forget my ideas.
> 
> Please comment, it makes my whole day :)


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